Wednesday, April 30, 2008

The Chiefs draft inspired me to spend an hour and a half updating my Madden roster to reflect the current Chiefs depth chart. Not just adding rookies but updating every position, including upgrading and downgrading players that were already on the team (up: Colquitt, Hali, DJ; down: Gonzalez, Surtain, LJ)

So now I've got all your favorites from Dorsey to Flowers, from Albert to Sippio.

Monday, April 28, 2008

First, thoughts on Jared Allen: I've always subscribed to the "bird in the hand philosophy", so I wasn't excited to trade away one of our best players (on a team with not many good ones) just for draft picks. But when you factor in that Allen didn't want to play here, the Chief's franchised him, getting more than they would have otherwise, everyone thinks the Vikings gave him too much money and gave us too many picks, and everything the Chiefs did in the draft, I'm as satisfied as I could be. In fact, I think I'm drinking the Red and Gold Kool-Aid: it was smart to let Allen go.

Since this is such an important draft, I'm going to go round by round and give my thoughts. In a few years, I'll revisit this post to see how well the Chiefs and I had it right.

Round 1: 5th overallGlenn Dorsey - DTThis is absolutely what I would have done. But I'll be curious to compare him to Gholston and Ellis down the road and see if it really was as good as we think it was.

Round 1: 15th overallBranden Albert - OLThey traded up to get him and I like the pick. Although I was sort of hoping they would trade up to get Chris Williams, who went to the Bears. We'll have to compare Albert to Williams and Cherilus, who the Lions got in the Chief's 17 slot.

Round 2: 35th overallBrandon Flowers - CBVery happy with this pick as well. Though I would have rather taken Quentin Groves - DE, who went to the Jaguars at 51. I also had my eye on Brohm who went to the Packers at 55.

Round 3: 73th overallJamaal Charles - RBThis is the pick I question. By taking a RB here, you're saying he's a big improvement over Kolby Smith, which I doubt. But time will tell. I would have rather taken Early Doucet, pair him up with Bowe and have a LSU wideout corps.

Round 3: 76th overallBrad Cottam - TEApparently this guy will be good. I'm fine with getting another TE. Still, Doucet and Manningham was still on the board. Doucet ends up going 81.

Round 3: 82th overallDaJuan Morgan - SIs he better than the mediocre Safeties we already have? Probably not. Will he make the final roster? Who knows. Apparently he's good on special teams, and Kiper says he solid, but I'm not convinced.

Round 4: 105th overallWilliam Franklin - WRThe Chiefs finally get another receiver. I hope he pans out. The best part about him is his nickname - "The Helicopter." John David Booty was still on the board, I bet he sucks, but it will be interesting to see who has more success.

Round 5: 140th overallBrandon Carr - CBThis is the 3rd Brandon(en) taken by the Chiefs. I really like this pick. I hope he makes the roster and can be a starter in a few years. Dennis Dixon and Josh Johnson were available QB's and Carl Nicks was an available OT.

Round 6: 170th overallBarry Richardson - OLHe's enormous and might have potential. We'll see if he makes the roster. It's not that we don't have bodies, it's that we don't have NFL starters. I doubt he's one right away. Andre Woodson was still available.

Round 6: 182th overallKevin Robinson - WRApparently he's going to be our kick returner. Considering we had Eddie Drummond last year, this guy will seem like a blue-chipper.

Round 7: 210th overallBrian Johnston - DEOur first DE taken today. It seems the Chiefs plan on moving a former DT to DE, to replace Allen and make way for Dorsey. Will he make the team?

Round 7: 239th overallMike Merritt - TEI'm going to go out on a limb and say this was a wasted pick. No way he makes the team. But when you're the 12th pick taken by a team, that's okay.Update: I just read that the Chiefs could use him as OG. I still doubt he makes the team, but if could help our OL, I'd gladly be wrong.

In summary, I hope we can sign our first 11 picks and put them on our roster.

I'm pretty happy the Chiefs didn't draft a QB or kicker. We've got Croyle and it might be time for a free agent (Chris Simms from the Bucs?) I also have seen way too many 3rd rd, 4th rd picks not even make the Chiefs roster. Or in the case of our 2nd rd pick last year, our kicker, we cut that guy in Week 1. So we'll see. But I feel like our team is a lot better, and we could be the 08 version of the 07 Browns.

Pre-Draft, I felt like this team was a 4-12 team. Realistically, now they're 5-11. But with a little luck, this could be an 8-8 team.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

So if Chris Long goes #2, and Matt Ryan goes #3 (YES!), then that leaves Clady, Gholston, Ellis, Dorsey, and Albert available with only the Raiders picking before the Chiefs. If they take any of them, it's okay, or better yet, trade down and still get one of those I mentioned.

Friday, April 25, 2008

I don't know anything. In 03, when the Chiefs took Larry Johnson, I wasn't very excited. I thought he was a good player but was concerned because he was a Penn State RB, and thought "we need defense, we already have Priest". Well, sure I was right about needing defense, but it's tough to argue with a pick like LJ. Although Polamalu is a great pick in hindsight, but it's not as if I knew his name before the draft.

The point is I really don't have any clue when it comes to the draft. The Chiefs have been slightly above average I think overall, not great by any means, when it comes to drafting. Although this year could have huge future implications.

The one thing I think I think, is that I'd rather not take Matt Ryan. I don't think he's a big improvement over Croyle, so why use a top 5 pick, when we need everything else. Clady, Gholston, Ellis, Long, they're all fine by me. Hell, trade down and still get Clady or Albert.

I'm all about trading down. I think in some cases, teams would be better off swapping first round picks, without even gaining anything. For example, looking at this chart, since Oakland doesn't have that much cap room, would they be better served in the future by taking a player in the top 20 instead of top 4. A 4 pick ties up a lot of money and has no guarantee of being good.

A better example yet would be if the Rams had the budget of the Lions, why should they invest in a #2 pick?

Anyways, if the Chiefs take Ryan, so be it. I might not like it now, but sometimes you just have to say In Herm We Trust.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

I'm halfway there. I'm excited because I was able to write these last 5,000 words (what I'm assuming to be 10% of the end product) in just a week. Now I don't expect to keep up that pace, since it was almost all novel, all the time. But if I can manage to stick to a 10% every 2 weeks pace, that would currently have me finished by July 2nd.

Another way of looking at it, is that I started on January 25, so that's basically halfway there in 3 months. Which would have me finished by July 25.

Although I'd rather finish in June, I'd take July. That would still give me time to let it settle in mind, then come back with a few months of revising before my intended release date.

I've enjoyed the taste of Propel for a while, but hardly ever purchase it. Mostly because of the cost. I feel silly paying for something that isn't much more than what I can get for free at home. And if I am in the mood for a bottled drink, say at a gas station on a road trip, I feel like I should get my money's worth by getting a soda.

Anyways, last night in the store while looking for something like Crystal Light, I found this:

Although I picked up the Kiwi Strawberry version. It was 3 bucks for 10 bottles (16.9 ounces).And in 24 hours, I've had 5 bottles. 2 last night, and 3 today while taking the day off. It tastes great, I'm drinking more water--which is healthy--plus it has a smidge of vitamins. Also, I end up drinking the whole thing in about 2 minutes. It just disappears. It's so good. Plus, I like that I'm not wasting a bunch of bottles.

*I'm sure my loyal readers are probably wondering why the hell this is my only post, when we're in the middle of a primary and nfl draft and nba playoffs. For them, eh. I'm convinced Obama will win the Dem nomination, and 70% confident he will win the general election.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Phew. I cranked out that last ten percent in 3 weeks. That has me finishing just the first draft around September 1st. Hmm...I've got a special release date in mind and I know I'll need a couple months of revising/proofing before it's ready to go. Looks like I need to speed it up a notch.

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Just like last year, I'm taking a look at how many times teams are featured in the National Primetime games, including Monday Night, Sunday Night, Thanksgiving, Opening Night, but not including the NFL Network games or flex-Sunday games because they are not national/set in stone. I've also added in parenthesis the change from last year.

Well, let's see. There are five teams who won't see any primetime action. The Chiefs and the Rams are the only teams in that situation for consecutive years. They couldn't find a way to see Chad Johnson, Larry Johnson, Steven Jackson on national tv? And the Browns get 4 games? I know they were good last year, but that's more than the Champs, who didn't get any SB bump.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

First off, one of the main reasons why I like the first two weekends of the tournament is related to why I usually get disappointed by the Final Four--the same upsets that are so thrilling, end up with uninspiring teams in the Final Four. But this year, we had all chalk and I watched every second of the Final Four. Although the UCLA game wasn't close at the end, it was high-quality basketball. The UNC game was incredible to watch, and the Championship game surpassed all expectations.

A couple notes on last nights game:

Of course, the irony that all year the knock on Memphis was poor free throw shooting. And then Calipari kept saying it wasn't a weakness, and they proved him right in the tournament. And then in crunch time, they missed four free throws, taken by their best players. Any one of those should have sealed the deal.

CDR missing the front end of a 1 and 1, up 4, 1:15 to go.CDR missing both free throws, up 2, :16 to go.Rose missing the first one, up 2, :10 to go.

But of course that was obvious. What stood out to me, was that Bill Self did a fine job coaching, until the last ten minutes of the game. Up 3, he switched to a box and 1 defense guarding CDR. Memphis proceeded to go on a 10-0 run which would be the difference until the last two minutes. And then as he acknowledged after the game, he didn't deserve the credit for the Chalmers 3-pointer.

Sure, I would have liked for Bill Self to not win the championship at KU and then slink off to Oklahoma State and suck for a while, but I'm over it. I really can't argue with him moving to KU. Sure he could have won a championship in 05, especially with Villanueva. But he had an opportunity to go to a better program, he did, he won a championship with his own players and now he's going to get paid. It's not as if any of us Illini could say that we would pass up opportunities like that.

Friday, April 04, 2008

This is a popular little thing to do, and I figure I might as well look at the playoffs. You might expect me to be thinking of the NBA, or perhaps the NHL right now, but no, I think it's never too early to eye the Fall Classic.

NL East: WashingtonNL West: San DiegoNL Cental/Wild Card: Talk about the closest pennant race in history! The Reds, Brewers, Pirates and Cardinals would all have to duke it out to see who wins the division. Then you have to add in the Mets and Dodgers to see who gets the Wild Card.

Projected Bracket:

The Royals, the only undefeated team--ergo the best team in baseball--get the 1 seed in the AL. They face off against the Yankees who get the Wild Card. Boston vs Anaheim is the other first round matchup.

In the NL, looks like Padres vs Mets and Nationals vs, let's say, the Brewers.

Fuck you and no thanks. I'm willing to accept that there's a fee for shopping online instead of at the box office. And if you want to charge me a few bucks for shipping, that's fine too. But racking up a total of 19 dollars of fees on top of a 26 dollar ticket is ridiculous. I'm not going to pay it.

Wednesday, April 02, 2008

I took a break from Guitar Hero 3 (after getting 5 stars on Medium for Weezer & Rage, and my wife got 5 stars on Medium for Killers, and I got a perfect song on Easy for Alice Cooper.) to play some more College Basketball. I dig it out every March, and 2k5 still continues to be extremely playable.

Great gameplay, plenty of options, they even have the white, blue and ORANGE Illini jerseys. Plus, this roster is the Illinois Final Four squad, so who needs updated rosters?

A week ago, I created the 08 Sweet 16, and was playing them through according to who I wanted to win in my bracket. But last night I decided to do it right, and I created Stephen Curry, and decided to take control of Davidson only and try and make my way though the 64 team bracket. I set it up so I would meet the right opponent in each round, but didn't actually customize the entire 64 teams because that would have taken hours. So last night I played their first round game against Gonzaga.

I knew he was small, so at first I made him 5' 8". But when I took him into the game, he looked ridiculous. So I looked him up, and he's actually 6'3". So I fixed that, and he's still small but looks right.

Curry went off. He started 4-4 from distance, but I remember that despite that, Davidson was only up 16-12 in the first half. At halftime it was 18-18. But in the second half, Davidson got on a run, and won by double digits. I think Curry had 39 of the teams 45 points, including 9 out of 14 from beyond the arc. In fact, I think he missed his last 2 3-pointers in garbage time, so at one point he was shooting 75%.

I was ready to play Georgetown, but when I simulated their game, Vermont won. So I had to shut it down without saving that result, and will have to save and load to get the matchups I want.